Night Like a Whirlwind
by Mia-Zeklos
Summary: Jack receives a strange message late at night and draws the wrong conclusion.


**Author's Notes: Just a bit of fun, I guess. It was written by a prompt, and I hope you enjoy it!**

There was a sound in the distance, Jack's brain registered as it searched for the reason for him to be awake. It was something shrill and highly irritating that made his head ache slightly as he tried to shake sleep away from his mind. He opened his eyes and looked around the small, completely dark room, but still couldn't find the source.

After several more moments of confusion, the Captain recognised it as his phone's tune for a text message. He felt around on his nightstand for a while before recognising the rectangular shape under his fingers and brought it up in his field of vision for a closer look.

It was from Ianto and it was surprisingly short – devoid of everything Ianto would have usually included in it; not even a signature in sight.

 _I need you. Now._

Any sleepiness Jack could have had left abandoned him completely and he sprung to his feet, getting dressed as quickly as he could in the first things he could find (which happened to be sweatpants and an undershirt). He considered calling his lover to see what the problem was, but decided against it. It would be of no use – if Ianto was in danger, his phone going off would put him at an even greater risk, especially if he'd been captured.

Jack climbed up the ladder that led out of his bedroom and then left his office, waking up Mainframe and hooking up his phone to one of the computers so that it could trace the address from which the message had been sent.

The still sluggish machine managed the result in two more precious minutes and when Jack saw it, he felt his blood freeze in his veins. It was coming from Ianto's flat.

They'd got too arrogant, he decided. Years ago, when the Torchwood branch in Cardiff had been at least a semblance of a secret organisation, the agents took great care to keep their lives outside of their working place strictly detached from the Institute. Back then, it would have been nearly impossible for anyone hostile to connect the dots. But in this day and age, when the alien cat was long since out of the bag and Torchwood didn't really need to hide, they'd just decided that there was no point. They'd stopped checking in the shadows that lurked outside their windows and had decided that if there wasn't an enemy directly in front of them, they were safe.

Well, they'd all clearly been wrong on that one.

Picking his coat up along the way, Jack threw it on and raced down the stairs to where the SUV was parked. Being behind the wheel calmed him down just a bit – from here, it was a five minute drive to Ianto's place – but not enough for him to actually manage to gather his thoughts. He started up the engine and pushed every speed limit in the several streets that separated the Hub and the block of flats he'd become familiar with over the last few months.

And finally, he was here. He looked up to the fourth floor, but didn't see any signs of disturbance. The blinds on the kitchen windows were up and it was dark inside; Ianto's room was slightly brighter, the faint trace of light seeping into the night. Jack gripped his gun and soundlessly unlocked the front door. The lift would make too much noise and he couldn't have that, so he picked the stairs instead. There was still no noise and Jack wondered what kind of alien could break into a building without being seen.

Well, it didn't matter now. Jack found himself in front of Ianto's front door and pressed it, only to find it locked. Another surprise; why would any intruder close the door behind themselves? It made no sense, but Jack pulled out the second key Ianto had given him and slipped in the hallway, squinting in the near-darkness of the flat. His finger was on the trigger as he made his way to the living room. It was not wrecked like he'd expected it to; there wasn't a book out of place and Jack took a deep breath as he looked at the door to Ianto's bedroom.

And that was when he heard it. There was a shuffling sound of some sort, then a gasp and a softly uttered word that he couldn't quite catch. The Captain neared the door and his eyes widened when he realised that the word was 'Jack'.

Jack burst into the room, gun at the ready as he frantically looked around for the source of Ianto's distress. Much to his own distress, there was nothing.

Nothing, if one didn't count the fact that Ianto was spread on the sky blue satin sheets, wearing nothing but his pyjama bottoms and a shocked expression.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked, his voice just a bit more breathy than usual. He was flushed all the way down to his chest, Jack noticed, and a realisation started dawning on him.

"I got your message," he said, trying not to feel thicker by the second. Out of all the people who could jump to the wrong conclusion, _he_ had been the one not to take the hint? "I thought– I thought you were in trouble. It's not funny!" he added, scandalised, when he saw Ianto's lips curling into a smile while his eyes were outright laughing already. "I thought you were being kidnapped, no that you were just feeling up for some late night fun!"

"Poor Jack," Ianto said, although he didn't seem to pity him in the slightest. In fact, laughter was still bubbling behind his lips and Jack found himself unable to keep being mad at him. "And now that you're here already, do you regret coming?"

"Oh, not at all," Jack assured, sliding his arms around Ianto's waist to bring him close enough for a kiss. "But you know, just in case... Next time, you can just text me 'Come over'. I can do without the adrenaline rush at three in the morning."

"Now, Captain," Ianto purred and brought them both down on the bed so abruptly that Jack flailed for a moment before finding his balance, "we both know that some adrenaline at this time of the night is always a good thing."

Jack didn't have it in him to disagree.


End file.
